Archery, Survival Yes, Hunting No!

Old CW4

Old CW4

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I've hunted with guns for a lot of years in the mountains and deserts of Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico. Something that's always disgusted me is the number of dead and rotting elk and deer I come upon that have an arrow sticking out of their rumps, stomachs, necks, and so on.

I know a good and careful archer can place an arrow so it results in a quick kill but there are way too many 'city Robin Hoods' who launch arrows from too great a distance or couldn't hit a bull in the ass with a bass fiddle in the first place. I know because I've seen the results of their misplaced shots in all of the states mentioned.

I'm no saint but I've come to the point that if I don't feel certain of dropping the animal like a thunderbolt from God, I don't shoot. It's as simple as that. If you're not sure of your shot, don't! I've had people in my shop brag about five, six, even eight hundred yard shots at deer or elk. BS! I ask them to tell me the distance from my shop's front door to the house across the highway. It's 107 yards measured with a laser range finder and I get responses from 150 to 250 yards. This proves to me a lot of so-called hunters are absolute nerds when it comes to estimating range with a bow or firearm.

So, hey folks, epecially archers, practice and learn how to both estimate distance and place your shots. I hate seeing the results of amateur attempts that result in animals suffering a long, slow demise from arrows or bullets.

Yes, I know gunners do it too which is why I included them. Be merciful, folks. If you have the slightest doubt, arrow or gun, don't shoot!
 
The archers I know (one was president of the Montana Bowhunter's Assoc.) are very well-trained, patient, conservative, and ethical. It's too bad that under-prepared yahoos are wounding animals. Hopefully education and peer pressure from ethical hunters will reduce that sad problem.

DancesWithKnives
 
Old CW4 said:
I've hunted with guns for a lot of years in the mountains and deserts of Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico. Something that's always disgusted me is the number of dead and rotting elk and deer I come upon that have an arrow sticking out of their rumps, stomachs, necks, and so on.

I know a good and careful archer can place an arrow so it results in a quick kill but there are way too many 'city Robin Hoods' who launch arrows from too great a distance or couldn't hit a bull in the ass with a bass fiddle in the first place. I know because I've seen the results of their misplaced shots in all of the states mentioned.

I'm no saint but I've come to the point that if I don't feel certain of dropping the animal like a thunderbolt from God, I don't shoot. It's as simple as that. If you're not sure of your shot, don't! I've had people in my shop brag about five, six, even eight hundred yard shots at deer or elk. BS! I ask them to tell me the distance from my shop's front door to the house across the highway. It's 107 yards measured with a laser range finder and I get responses from 150 to 250 yards. This proves to me a lot of so-called hunters are absolute nerds when it comes to estimating range with a bow or firearm.

So, hey folks, epecially archers, practice and learn how to both estimate distance and place your shots. I hate seeing the results of amateur attempts that result in animals suffering a long, slow demise from arrows or bullets.

Yes, I know gunners do it too which is why I included them. Be merciful, folks. If you have the slightest doubt, arrow or gun, don't shoot!
Click to expand...

I learned that lesson as a kid when winging a blue jay with a BB gun, as a man hunting Boar, Bear and Coyotes, never taking a shot unless I thought I had a kill then never letting up until I get the carcass.

when i was a kid i hated seeing deer left in the creeks or to rot, its had an impact as well.

good post, hopefully its taken the right way.
 
Amen, I agree totally, if I am not positive I can drop the critter on the spot I don't take a shot. Anything less is unetheical and disrespectful.
 
That's too bad. I grew up with some very good bow-hunters...you don't take a shot unless you're confident enough to make a kill. Bow hunting takes a lot of practice and patience. My roommate in college was extremely good, yet he would practice a couple hours every day for a few months before the season opened. I would say the same thing about bow hunters as those that hunt with rifles...I've personally seen a guy rattle off four shots at a running deer that was well over a 100 yards away. I don't even know if he hit the deer, but that was reckless and idiotic. I’ve seen guys at the range with their rifle that hasn’t been fired since the previous season at the 25 yard range with groups bigger than a pie-plate and think they’re good to go.

We have a range that goes out to almost 1000 yards with big numbered plywood showing the distances. Very few ever do well past 500 yards...which I think is still an extremely good distance for a rifleman even with a scope and most likely three times further than necessary to hunt deer in these parts. I’ve done enough shooting on my own and as part of my job…range estimation is an art and different landscapes really distort reality. A good hunter knows how to roughly estimate distance and most importantly knows their skill level and limitations.

The biggest travesty is the waste of the animal...sure Mother Nature will clean up the mess we made, but it's poor stewardship. Hunting is a sport...killing requires maturity and respect. I spent many a-day hunting and came home empty handed yet it was still enjoyable.

ROCK6
 
I agree 100% and I'm glad you included gunners. I am amazed every year at guys who shoot a gun a few times or not at all just before season opens.
Rock you're right; it's the hunting we enjoy and I have had many great days when I returned home empty handed.
 
Yep, irresponsible hunters of any stripe disgust me.

Personally, my rule of thumb is, if I'm sure I could make the kill with a handgun, I'm in bow range. When I rifle hunt, I usually stalk to less than 75 yards before taking the shot. That way, I know I can plow it under and kill it fast. I'm not a trophy hunter and will often get to within 25 yards when the animal is down, and if it's still breathing, put another shot through its head. Being merciful is important to me. Screw waiting for up to two hours like some do.

I don't see many arrow wounded animals. probably because there are few bowhunters in my area, and those that do are very conscientious about it. But I have seen an animal that had its guts blown out by a rifle and most of the carcass is still there, telling me that the guy took a bad shot and the animal ran off to slowly die.
 
I agree with everything you say except the title of the thread. Archery is perfectly suitable for hunting. A lot of people aren't.

I know a lot of people that look at handgun hunters with disgust for the same, exact reason.

I had to help track a doe with her lower jaw blown off back in 1980. Wounded by an idiot that my Dad grumbled about, "Son of a bitch probably still had the price tag hanging off the trigger guard."
 
I have NEVER met ANY hunter that was 100%, EVERY time.

We have all pulled a shot, made an error or misjudged a distance and if we continue to hunt, we will all do it again.

It is our duty to the animal to make the most humane kill as possible, but the sad reality is, an arrow can nick a twig and be thrown a foot off, a deer could jump a shot and a duck coming into the decoys could be slighty further out than we thought.

People that don't have the necessary skills are responsible and should not shoot until they are confident, but the vast majority of those that I see left hunting (as our sport becomes more expensive, more regulated and generally more complex) are a pretty dedicated, responsible lot.

Carl-
 
I'd post but I need to go practice shooting.;)


Seriously, I agree. Don't shoot if you aren't sure.:thumbup:
 
+++ on this....this past season, I seen a nice buck come out at around 80 yards, I didn't have a good shot, so I didn't take it...the very next weekend I took a doe is the same spot with my 30.06......
 
I actually gave up bowhunting for that reason. When I was in HS in the late 70's compound bows were just getting popular around here.

Then I went to college in a really rural deer area. My self and all my classmates hunted a lot. I never got lucky but the amount of people wounding deer really turned me off. Also we all spent way more time hunting than practicing our shooting.

Also I was in forestry and when we were in the woods the amount of wounded deer we found from bows was disgusting. Also those killed by dogs running loose was bad too.

Anyway I said untill I could practice all the time I'd not bowhunt and I haven't since. I do still like to shoot bows though and I gun hunt.
 
I know there are a fair number of people who hunt both firearm and bow just in order to extend their hunting period.

Many of them don't spend the time either on trigger or string needed to be proficient.

Some do, but many don't

Andy
 
I agree totally. Before bow season I'll practice for months shooting from different distances and even up in a tree. When your in a tree stand 20 feet in the air, the distance looks closer than it really is. I won't take a shot at a deer with a bow unless its 35 yards or closer and most of my shots have been 20 yards and closer. I do practice at 50 yard shots at the range and that makes those 25 yard shots seem really easy.
 
Old CW4 said:
I've hunted with guns for a lot of years in the mountains and deserts of Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico. Something that's always disgusted me is the number of dead and rotting elk and deer I come upon that have an arrow sticking out of their rumps, stomachs, necks, and so on.

I know a good and careful archer can place an arrow so it results in a quick kill but there are way too many 'city Robin Hoods' who launch arrows from too great a distance or couldn't hit a bull in the ass with a bass fiddle in the first place. I know because I've seen the results of their misplaced shots in all of the states mentioned.

I'm no saint but I've come to the point that if I don't feel certain of dropping the animal like a thunderbolt from God, I don't shoot. It's as simple as that. If you're not sure of your shot, don't! I've had people in my shop brag about five, six, even eight hundred yard shots at deer or elk. BS! I ask them to tell me the distance from my shop's front door to the house across the highway. It's 107 yards measured with a laser range finder and I get responses from 150 to 250 yards. This proves to me a lot of so-called hunters are absolute nerds when it comes to estimating range with a bow or firearm.

So, hey folks, epecially archers, practice and learn how to both estimate distance and place your shots. I hate seeing the results of amateur attempts that result in animals suffering a long, slow demise from arrows or bullets.

Yes, I know gunners do it too which is why I included them. Be merciful, folks. If you have the slightest doubt, arrow or gun, don't shoot!
Click to expand...

Archery is not the problem, hunters with bad judgment/ethic is.
 
Been bowhunting a long time and really strikes me as funny you see dead animals with arrows sticking in them. My arrows go through and through and are sticking in the ground on the other side, if the arrow does hit a bone and stay in the animal it runs and always breaks the arrow off.

Bows are perfectly fine hunting tools as has been proven since the dawn of time, the hunters pulling them are the problem.

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i have been a traditional archer/bowhunter for many years, and consider myself to fairly deadly within the 25-30 yard range.. at any timeif i fell i am not certain of a shot, i will not take it.. the vast majority of the traditional archers/bowhunters i know, are very ethical.. they hunt for meat and not for sport..i have just as much fun stalking game than killing game.. though these days, we have been so damn busy, i am lucky if i get out to hunt once a year..:o
 
If you're going to debate the ethics of hunting tools which includes their relative lethality, then you have to include both animal injury rates and human accident rates. Both are relevant to the discussion.
 
I have hunted big game with bow, rifle, and handgun for over 30 years. I've found more dead and wounded animals with terribly placed firearm shots than archery. Legs broken, jaws broken, and terrible neck shots mostly. I've also found deer with a good lung shot that rifle hunters left because they didn't drop in their tracks and the hunter didn't want to track them the 100 yards or so.

It's unethical hunters, not the weapon.

Now, about all of those animal -vs- vehicle deaths... :)
 
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